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John Mayer and Jennifer Anniston at the Oscars

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So John Mayer and Jennifer Anniston are planning to go to the Oscars are they?

Well to me I couldn’t really care about what the great guitarist does in his personal life and to be honest with you, I’m pretty sure he couldn’t care what I do in mine! All I know is that I just love how the guy makes music with his axe not his ex?!

A recent article from the site Newspostonline.com is something that caught my eye today. Are they seeing each other again, good for them. Are they going to get married, raise a family and live happily ever after is not a concern with me, but others it seems like it is so important. Why are so many people so intrigued with celebrities personal lives so much? Don’t they have lives and worries of their own?

I just had to get this off my chest!

Keep on Jammin’ John




John Mayer is coming to Toronto

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John Mayer will be playing July 7, 2008 at the Molson Amphitheatre.

jm1.jpg I’ve been so busy doing everything but blogging and playing that I almost missed this show that I would kill to go and see! I love seeing bands live anywhere, but when looking at ticket prices it really makes ya wonder if it’s really worth it.

Now if I had to choose a guitar player(s) I’d like to be stranded on a desert island with, with a 20 year supply of strings and picks, this guy or Bruce Cockburn would be the winners hands down. Just watching John play, or for that matter even listening to anything he does just makes my mind wonder around aimlessly. Oh all those wild chord inversions!!!

jm2.jpgHas anyone else looked at ticket prices and thought the same thing?

The prices are just out of this world! Who can afford them, I can’t even begin to justify the cost. Is it just me or is the way artists make their money on CD sales?

John, I love ya brother, but are you really worth it? Well … maybe.

Keep on Jammin’

P.S. If someone wants to learn how to play a couple of his tunes, and you have a extra ticket with my name on it, I’ll give you 10 free guitar lessons!


The toughest song I can play, and sing

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Well as you already know, I enjoy the challenge that comes with playing some of John Mayer’s tunes. I love the chord progressions that he exposes us to. He also brings the high difficulty of playing guitar while making “Pop Music”. I honestly hope that other musicians, who make pop music, notice that the bar is raised VERY HIGH because of this man!

Anyways, Neon is the song that I find that is the toughest song to sing and play at the same time while USING FINGERS ONLY. I actually am still in the process of fine tuning this song, if truth be told. I can play and sing the song to the level of any hack can but if it ain’t perfect … well, I refuse to play it live. Nothing worst then people listening to you live at a venue and knowing by the look in their eyes that you are just another guy playing guitar. I must admit that I am very hard on myself but that’s the way I’ve always been. When I do master and play it live, this will be such a natural high that I will find it hard to contain myself.

The song that I’m trying to reproduce is a collage of many of his versions of this tune. I am working on the acoustic one first then playing the electric one will come easier, I hope! There are many little and subtle things that he does version to version that I want to incorporate into one version. In all honesty, I think that I am not that great at improvising solo’s at all. I fuck around but I am nowhere near the level that I really should be!

So below is a great version of Neon done live by JM and I want you to play this over and over again and please give me your input on the difficulty of both playing and singing this song live.

Neon

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This is the most challenging song that I have come across in years! It also sounds great in the acoustic or electric version of the tune. Below is the link that I felt that best showed me how to approach playing the song. If you are going to attempt this tune then take your time on it.

I’m a perfectionist and I have been known to stop a song and start it up again to the annoyance of many an audience. I love the high you naturally get from pulling off a master piece live and people REALLY lovin’ it! Perfecting this song at this time in my life will have to be put on hold for now.

So I set my sights on another tune that is similar in difficulty but more achievable now. This is John Mayer’s acoustic version of Neon. I just got my hands on a couple versions of this and my favorite is from a show from Chicago (on a PBS network)that is acoustic. Buddy guy plays with him in this show but not on this tune.

When I first came across this tune I was instantly captured! It was very challenging from a physical stand point too. Truth is, my thumbs have problems approaching/playing the low E on the neck. I have never ever thought that this is a technique that I would ever have to use.

When I was really playing a lot I was always keeping my ears out for songs that were very challenging to play because that is what interested me the most. I never paid attention to the words because I was not a song writer. This type of playing was pure cheating I thought so I would never have anything to do with it! I guess I was very short sighted as a 14 yr old.

Is anyone trying this tune out?

John Mayer, love him or … at least try to learn something from him!

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Boy, John Mayer, who seems to everyone else on the planet except me; to be the best guitar player from an technical/artistic aspect, is a girlie guitar player? For me, this is the biggest crock of shit coming from these musically challenged people who happen to listen to him, even if it just in casual listening!

My guitar playing approach, is to (1) listen and see how difficult and unique the playing approach is and (2) well … that’s it!

I live to be able to pick guitar players brains and incorporate them into my own distinct style of performing! After all, there is no suck, in my thinking anyways, performer that has come up with a definitive original style that is completely theirs and theirs alone! Everyone has certain influences that help them create their own style.

When I listen to John Mayer, I see different colours of sounds. I am aware that basic chords are … just chords, in the primary position. But what John does is, rip them apart and put them back together in a refreshing way that helps cut through the different direction/genres that are out there right now.

I had the chance to see/copy a show that John Mayer did in Chicago (my brother lives there and what a place to see, if you have not been there then don’t just surf there, go there!). Buddy Guy was playing with him for 2 songs and wow, what a treat for the uninitiated. John Mayer was ripping these chords off and Buddy Guy was blasting away these solos and then trading off with John. Man, if that guy, John Mayer or Buddy Guy for that matter, walked into a music store and I was there playing guitar, I might just put mine down.

I am currently figuring out a song of John Mayer’s called “Neon” in the acoustic version. This is a song that I can play technically but the fine nuances will take me a while. It’s like the time I was figuring out how to play Lady Madonna”, the piano part that is, on the guitar. It was the first time that I attempted to use a pick (Jim Dunlop, 1 MM) and every other finger on my right hand to play the song. It took me around 1 whole year practicing it until I felt comfortable to play it on stage.

The thumb slapping on “Neon” is fun, as usual! The best album to listen/figure out this on is “Inside wants out”. I have become accustom to this technique by playing “Who put that bullet hole in Peggy’s kitchen Wall” by Bruce Cockburn. I also put in a bit of a bass thing in there to really create the big sound!

So, who is the young girl or soccer mom, who listens to John Mayer Now?

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